Los Animales
by LovingNinja
Summary: Several years later, a new threat has been detected. A group of young men known as Los Animales infused with the genes of some of the most endangered animals in the world, and they aren't friendly...or maybe they are? Either way a new group of fresh Mews is needed!


**I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew in any way! I do own this fiction and my five Mew Mews as well as Los Animales boys.**

**Please Read and Review! Thank you!**

* * *

"So, what do we have?"

"The first is a young woman named Ikeda Ringo. Born on September 28th, a Libra, and seventeen years old. The second, Hashimoto Orenji: May 10th, a Taurus, sixteen. Third, Ishikawa Kiiro: October 9th, Libra, eighteen. Fourth, Yamashita Akai: March 27th, Aries, fifteen. And last, Ogawa Painappuru: February 9th, Aquarius, nineteen."

"So, we were actually able to find five?"

"Out of all the girls who applied? I'm not too surprised."

"It just seems too good to be true."

"Well, we've lucked out before."

"And, that's what I'm worried about."

"Well, we have no time for you to be worried. We need to call these girls in so we can get this started. We can't be wasting time."

"I know…"

"Still uneasy?"

"I just…I don't like the thought of involving other people into this again."

"There's nothing else we can do otherwise. Our old group has grown up, and several of them are out and are hard to locate. Besides, they won't be as strong as before, or as the ones we are facing now. We need new material."

"I get it, but…that doesn't make it any easier."

* * *

"So, I got the job?" a young woman with long light brown hair, with just the slightest tint of red, past her shoulders and bangs barely passing her eyes, and blue sapphire-like eyes sat at a table in the middle of the closed Café Mew Mew, a smile on her face as her soon to be employer nodded his head in response. "Well, when do I start? I mean, I can even start now if you want."

"Well, first, we need to put you through one more test," the owner, Shirogane Ryou, sat on the other side, a solemn expression on his face as he simply explained the next step.

"What…kind of test?"

"Well, it's more of a safety-net, really. We're going to inject you with a virus to increase your health so as not to run any risk for spreading disease to our customers. As a food distributor, it's very important that we verify our employees' health and status at all times."

"A…A virus?!"

"It sounds worse than it actually is. There's no harm in it really. At most you will vomit, but it won't be anything life-threatening. You'll be sick for a while, I'm sure, but not for too long, a week at most, and as I said, there won't be any cause for alarm over it."

The young woman looked up meekly, uneasy from what this man had told her, "All right, when do I get the injection."

Ryou grinned suddenly, brightly, catching the girl off-guard. "Right now," he said as he stood and began walking towards the kitchen entrance of the café. "All right, follow me, now. Quickly," he instructed.

"Y-Yes!" Almost tripping over her feet, the brunette followed Ryou hurriedly, before he slowed his pace a little, opening a door in the back of the kitchen that led to stairs spiraling both upwards and downwards.

"So," the blonde began as he took his first step down, "tell me a bit more about yourself, Ringo."

"More? Um…" the seventeen year old let out a hum as she thought. "My favorite food is bonito? I live with my parents, and my older brother is in college. Oh, and I really want to become an actor!"

"Is that so…"

Ringo rose a brow, a little unhappy at how uninterested the man sounded despite him being the one to request that she tell a bit about herself. "Well…I don't know what else I should say…otherwise…"

"Were you hoping to save up money then?"

"Excuse me?"

Ryou gave a glance back with a slight smile, "By working here, were you hoping to save up money? For something related to acting?"

"Oh! Yes! In a way, I suppose," the young woman eased. "I was hoping to move out as soon as possible so I can become independent and focus on my acting. I'm hoping to join a great agency as well."

The blonde's smile slipped into a smirk, "Fascinating."

Red flushed Ringo's cheeks and just as she made to, what it appeared to be, retaliate; feeling mocked; Ryou opened the door they had finally reached. He made a gesture, motioning for her to her enter before him and she did, almost warily. It was a dark room, at first, with only the light of screens floating atop desks, and then… When the lights switched on, Ringo winced at the sudden contrast before she looked around to see an older gentleman with short dark hair seeming to prepare her injection with needle in hand, some dishes and bottles of whatever was in it to make the virus, Ringo assumed, clattering a counter he stood at.

"Keiichirou," Ryou called out walking over the other and gaining his attention.

"Yes? I'm preparing the-" he paused midsentence when he noticed Ringo and he smiled. "Hello, Ikeda-san, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"You are…Keiichirou-san," the young woman seemed to be thinking aloud. "You were the one who did my interview."

"Yes, and I'm glad you were able to make it in."

Before Ringo could reply, Ryou cut in, "Is it all ready?"

There was a laugh, "Yes, everything is ready. We just have to sit her down and inject the virus."

"Um, excuse me?" Ringo interjected. "Can we give it a codename or something? When I keep hearing 'virus' it makes me…well…"

The two men looked at each other and when they returned their gazes towards Ringo, one was smiling, the other smirking, "Mew Mew."

"Mew…Mew…?" She knew that was the name of the café but… "Oh! The café! I remember I wanted to ask something."

"And, what would that be?" Keiichirou queried.

"The café has been here for a few years, that much I know, but I was wondering why the name of the café and the name of those superheroes from a few years ago are both Mew Mew."

Ryou shrugged, "Who knows. Anyway," he took the syringe from Keiichirou and turned to Ringo, "are you ready?"

* * *

"Those bastards…oh god…I feel…" a young woman curled on her bed, a bucket beside it as she seemed to be wavering as to whether or not she should lean over the edge to empty her stomach once more within the last two hours.

"Orenji," a voice called through her door, "Baby, are you feeling any better?"

"A little," the girl replied miserably. It had been a week since she came home with a fever, this young woman with short wavy dark teal hair and vibrant blue eyes, tanned skin and thin. "Ka-san, could you get me a cup of water?"

"Sure, Dear."

The footsteps made Orenji's head pound even as they grew fainter. When would this end? She couldn't fathom it. He promised, that Shirogane Ryou, that it shouldn't last more than a week, and here it was, the end of that week and she couldn't tell if she was getting better or getting worse. Her head was clouding up so much, going in and out of clarity, and suffering from heat flashes. However, she couldn't tell if she was so tired lately from illness or something else. Every day she had a long afternoon nap around the same time, and she was almost never tired, usually, even when she was sick, she could march through it without the need for much rest.

_It has to be this damnable virus they gave me_, she thought to herself as she held her stomach. She had to wonder if what she did wasn't stupid. How could she trust these people so easily? True, they had been running that business for years but for how long did they use this injection for their new workers? Was it something new? Did they lose their minds and suddenly decide that they wanted to spread some strange virus throughout the world that was actually incredibly life-threatening? Was she actually contagious and she hadn't noticed? There was so much to question, but even these thoughts were broken by the heat that attacked her.

She kicked off her bed covers, writhing around on her bed as she tried her best to cool down. She glared up at her fan, off from how freezing it was earlier. She had no energy to reach up and turn it on, and her eyes started to water. Was she…was it really possible that…she could be dying? At the age of sixteen? Was she never going to know…what it felt like to…

"Orenji!"

The young woman jumped slightly from her daze before looking over to the door wearily, "Yes, Ka-san?"

"I have your water, would you like me to come in, or do you think you can come out now?"

"No…I…I can't get out of bed right now…"

"All right," the door opened, revealing a woman with blonde hair, long and wavy with a smile, emerald eyes shining. "Here you are, Dear," she handed the glass to her daughter cheerfully. "Would you like me to get you anything else?"

Orenji nodded before chugging down her glass, finishing in seconds before pausing from the sudden chill inside of her body. She tried to process the change, but the outside of her body was still burning, "Ka-san, could you please turn the fan on high?"

"But, weren't you saying earlier that it was too cold for the fan?"

"Well, now it's too hot!"

The older woman sighed, "All right, I'll turn it on, but if it's too cold later, then I won't be here to turn it off. Is that all right with you?"

"Yes! Yes! Just turn it on, please!"

Orenji's mother did as she was begged to before taking the glass and placing a kiss to her daughter's head, leaving the room and closing the door softly behind her. Orenji sniffled, reveling in the cool air.

Those damn café bastards. If she lived through this, she'd make them pay.

* * *

**To Be Continued...!**

**Thank you for reading!  
**

**~LovingNinja~  
**


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